Please excuse ANY errors

December 29, 1998

~Cedric (K-Ci's) P.O.V~

"Nigga, why you ain't tell him?" I asked K-Ci once we stepped out of the elevator where DeVanté remained.

"Tell who what?" JoJo asked me confused.

"Tell him that some of that shit that was being said by those damn reporters was already in the magazines back home a little after they left," I replied.

"Me? You saw that shit and told me. It wasn't the other way around," JoJo told me. "Plus, it seems like he got a lot of shit on his plate already with everything that already took place here."

"Well, that shit seems to be true, some of it anyway. We already knew about the whole reason we all are here, but that other shit- that crazy ass shit they was sayin' seems to be the truth. He been goin' through a lot, but," I shook my head chuckling. "That nigga will be mad regardless, but you closer to him than I am."

"I am, but his ass know now, so it ain't no big deal. I'm not gettin' in that shit. And mad at me for what? I'm sure her friends saw that shit too. If it was in our small ass hometowns stores, then it damn sure was in the big cities especially one as big as Atlanta," JoJo pointed out.

I nodded in agreement, "you got a point."

"I know," he said then walked off in the direction of his room.

Well, I'm surprised that shit didn't turn into an argument because we do a lot of that shit. When I made it to my room, I brushed my stank ass breath and a couple of shots because I need that shit. I love DeVanté, but that no-drinking and no-smoking diet just ain't for me. He expects us to be the same around him and there was a promise of not drinking in front of his ass, but that doesn't mean I won't show up a little tipsy.

I drink when I'm not on vacation, so when I'm not on vacation I drink more to get the full effect on vacation. I under why he doesn't want us like that because even without drinks, we can get out of hand and we know how bad it CAN get when we are. I'm not trying to ruin my boy's moment.

I took a little shower because I'm a little ripe under the arms. After doing what I need to do and taking a couple of shots- not enough to get me tipsy, but enough to get me mellow. I'm pissed because I lost a shit ton of money to DeVanté today. I headed upstairs via elevator to DeVanté and Tia's hotel suite where Courtney let us in. It took a while for her to even open the door.

"Hey, where are they at?" I asked Courtney and she shrugged her shoulders. "What took so long?"

"We didn't hear the door," she smiled, then JoJo came inside.

"I hear him! No meat curtains before the wedding, DeVanté!" I heard Elijah say to DeVanté.

"Eej, away from the door!" Tia replied to Elijah.

We both walked in and JoJo closed the door behind him. "What the hell is goin' on?" I asked them.

"Between the sheets in my home," JoJo sang and I looked at him like the idiot he just so happen to be.

"Children need to stay in the children's place." Elijah scoffed at me. "Damn, I was goin' to let your ass wait out there just a little while longer," Elijah gave me a sassy look.

"I'm gon' just ignore this mothafucka or fathafucka," I laughed loudly.

"You ARE a father, right?" Elijah asked me.

JoJo's mouth flew open in surprise. "Aye, nigga! Don't say any gay shit like that. That's not how the fuck I roll. Don't you EVER say no shit like that to me?" I pointed at him, raising my voice as I usually would, but still loud. "You gon' let him say that shit to me? Ain't that disrespectful to you?" I asked Max.

"I know when I'm hearing a joke. With all due respect, you've been talking shit to him since we were on the plane," Max replied. "He even held back."

I looked at JoJo and he turned his head. "Damn, it's like that?" I asked them and got silence in return.

"I forgot! Word spreads fast around the industry and YOU ain't really a father. A good one anyway!" Elijah laughed.

Fuming, I walked towards him, then Tia came out from wherever the hell she was. She walked between and right past us without a word and went straight to the sink, to wash her hands.

"Hmm, weird..." Elijah trailed off. "Why you washin' your hands?" He asked Tia and I backed away not wanting it to be like that.

"Umm, I'm cooking..." Tia trailed off in an obvious tone. "Am I not?"

"Shit, I hope anybody cookin' me some food wash they damn hands. What's so weird about that?" JoJo asked Elijah.

Elijah squinted at Tia and she squinted back. "I know that I look good, but dang. Can I have me back to myself?"

"What?" JoJo asked Tia laughing. Tia shook her head at him. "But nah, I know you clean about everything. At least, I hope you STILL ARE," he side-eyed Tia.

"One thing I don't play about is being nasty," Tia replied. "Okay?"

"I know," he chuckled. "That's a fact about celibate and abstinent folks," JoJo whispered to me.

I bursted out laughing. "Nigga, you ain't right up here," I pointed to my head.

After a while, DeVanté came out of the cave he look like he crawled out of.

"About time you done!" I yelled at De, playfully.

"What the hell was this nigga yellin' at you about?" JoJo asked DeVanté. "Talkin' about no meat curtains!" He said laughing. "That's all I heard him sayin'. Wasn't yo ass in the shower?"

"Y'all are light, especially her ass, so you know y'all bruise easily." Elijah poked his lips out at DeVanté.

JoJo and me squinted at DeVanté. "OH!" We said in sync, nodding and observing what Elijah meant.

"What y'all lookin' at?" DeVanté asked us, frowning. "The water was just THAT fuckin' hot against my skin." He walked away from us and into the kitchen.

Elijah and I almost threw hands and a lot of other shit occurred, like DeVanté getting all sad and shit, but it cooled down. Tia came into the living room and handed DeVanté his plate and a drink.

"Thanks, babe," DeVanté kissed her on the lips.

"My appetite is ruined," I said with my nose scrunched up upon seeing this couple kiss.

"Bullshit. K-Ci ass always fuckin' hungry. You'd think not due to his scrawny ass body, but nah," DeVanté laughed.

"Niggas, we built alike!" I told him, eyeing what was on his plate.

"Y'all food is on the countertop," Tia spoke walking away.

I hopped up out of my seat to make myself a plate, almost knocking Tia down. "Watch where the fuck you goin', nigga! With yo hungry ass!" DeVanté yelled at me.

"I know your ass is hungry, but you ain't have to do all that," JoJo replied.

I patted Tia's shoulders, "my bad."

I proceeded to my destination to see the already-made plates on the countertop. "Aww, De... She even made my plate." I grabbed one of the plates, then looked at Tia's plate.

We had the unhealthy shit while she sitting there about to smash on some healthy shit.

"Why we got two completely different meals?" I asked her. "Always tryin' to be different," I teased.

"I'm kind of on this healthy thing right now," she replied.

"Well... You look good to me, so what's the problem?" I raised my eyebrows.

"As I said, it's a health thing. Not just weight," she replied.

JoJo put his plate near her face, "Sure you don't want any?" He asked moving the plate in circles around her face.

"She ain't you," I replied to JoJo.

"Say's the nigga that almost pushed somebody down to get his food," DeVanté spoke up through his chewing.

"Right! I was just about to say that shit," JoJo said moving his plate.

"Are you or not?" I asked Tia.

"Am I what?" She questioned.

I repeated what she said, "You said that you are kind of on a healthy thing right now."

"It's a sometimes thing," she replied and DeVanté burst out laughing. "Basically, I'm still working on it."

"Shit, at least she told the truth," Courtney replied.

"Oh okay," I nodded, grabbed a spoon, and walked off.

"Uhh, this macaroni?" I questioned once I sat down.

"Nah, it's potato salad," DeVanté chuckled. "Can't you tell?"

I smacked my lips at him, "Why is the macaroni white though?" I asked. "I ain't EVER had no damn white macaroni."

"Ever heard of white cheddar, dummy?" Elijah chuckled.

"The yellow cheese here doesn't really taste like the one back in the States, and the ones we did have was used for Christmas dinner," DeVanté replied. "The French ain't really into artificial food like we are."

"What he said," Tia pointed at DeVanté from the kitchen with her spoon. "Does it tastes good?"

"I ain't even try it yet," I replied.

"You ain't ever had no white mac and cheese?" JoJo asked me through mid-chew. "They have that shit in some restaurants back in home."

"I'm mostly on a fats food diet. Meaning, MOST times I'm eatin' fast food," I replied.

"Mm, I sholl can't tell," DeVanté raised his eyebrows at me. "Maybe the damage is all on the inside though," he shrugged.

"They have it at fast food joints too!" JoJo told me.

"Name 'em, nigga!" I requested loudly.

"Arby's for sure. It's JUST alright though because that shit ain't got no seasoning," JoJo replied.

"And you would know, right? Took you no time at all," I chuckled.

"You can say the same for Chick-fil-A, but that shit white because ain't that much fuckin' cheese. Ain't too many black southerner folks braggin' about that shit because many of them grew up with the good shit," DeVanté told us.

"Nah, that shit tastes like ass in a cup," I shook my head. "At least at the Atlanta spots I go to. I still eat it though," I shrugged. "Especially when I'm high and shit."

"Sounds just like you, ass eater," JoJo replied.

DeVanté snickered through his nose, shaking his head. "The two of you funny as fuck."

"I don't do that shit no more, nigga. Use past tense if you gon' bring that shit up. I did that with one person and I told y'all that in confidence," I whispered that last part.

"I ain't said shit," DeVanté shrugged, "I laughed and that's it."

"Ooh, what you tryin' to say though?" Courtney asked us. "I don't know about you, but I know my girl can cook. Tia from up north, so so do us," Elijah defended.

"And ALL of your grandparents are from the what, babe?" He looked at Tia. "I'll wait."

"They're from the south, BUT I tweak my recipes. The southern food is amazing, yes. However, I know plenty of Southerners whose food taste like pure manure," Tia replied.

"Ahh, so that's why it ain't that good?" JoJo teased.

DeVanté leaned forward, looking at Jojo's plate, "Aww, but you're almost done though," he sat back.

"I have a serious question for you all," Tia said aloud.

DeVanté gave her a playful look, "I know where this is going."

"Okay, so it's a zombie apocalypse, right? The Internet has taken over and people don't really use books. Meaning, you can't read about things because electricity is scarce. You don't know how to plant and grow your own food. In fact, you don't know which plants are edible, so you're unable to sustain much food in the harsh climate you would be living in. However, you are able to cook your food. Would you eat zombies in order to not starve to death?" Tia finally finished.

"What? You ask a lot of bizarre ass questions, but this one," JoJo shook his head at her, "this is one of the ones at the top.

"No," Elijah answered her question.

A bunch of no's went around the room, but DeVanté was the last to answer, and guess what this nigga answer is?

"Yes," DeVanté replied. "I definitely would. I'm not gon' starve to death."

"Nigha, what?" Me and JoJo said together.

"You heard me," DeVanté said to JoJo and I.

"Why?" JoJo asked him confused as hell.

"Why are the rest of y'all saying no?" Tia asked the rest of us.

"What sense does it make to eat a zombie knowing that if they bite you, you gon' turn into one?" Elijah questioned.

"Well, take a deep dive into what I said. You're ABLE to cook your food. Heat kills viruses, germs, and bacteria. Also, where in the rule book does it state that humans turn to zombies from eating and cooking, yet along biting one?" She asked us.

"I'll tell you why. It's because ain't nobody ever thought of that mess," I told her.

"There's no rule book," Max replied.

"The rulebook is in every zombie show and film. Never has any one of them stated that a human turned into a zombie from eating them. Also, you ARE ABLE to COOK them," Tia repeated.

"You can cook the virus or any of that other shit that makes the people turn into zombies and have a full stomach," DeVanté replied.

"Exactly," Tia agreed.

"I'd like to see the first fool who'll try it," Courtney replied. "I guess it'll e the two of you."

"Aren't zombies rotten?" Max questioned with a disgusted look on his face.

"These zombies look like you and I," Tia stated.

"But you didn't say that before," JoJo replied.

"Hell to the naw!" I shook my head. "That means I'm a cannibal."

"It's a zombie though," DeVanté replied. "It's no longer human."

"No, would you?" I looked at Tia sideways.

"Hell no," Tia emphasized. "What do I look like eating that? I'm dying from starvation! Donald is on his OWN with that."

The room burst into a fit of laughter, "damn babe, so you tricked me?" DeVanté asked her.

"No, what do I look like eating something that resembles me? I might as well eat a real human if that's the case. You're disgusting, babe," Tia shook her head laughing.

"You also have to think about kuru disease," Max pointed out.

"Ayo, what the FUCK is that?" JoJo asked him.

"Something you get from eating humans," Courtney replied. "A lot of shit happens and you live PROBABLY for another year."

"You wouldn't be able to stand on your own two feet, pains in different places, your ability to swallow will decrease and eventually stop, and a few other things," Tia replied.

"How the fuck do y'all weird asses know this shit?" I asked them.

"It's called a book," Tia raised her eyebrows.

"You should see about a book one of these days. Maybe you should start on your reading level, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish," Elijah smiled at me.

"Elijah stop," Tia warned him.

"What she said and how can I get that shit if they are no longer human?" DeVanté asked us. "It's from eating HUMANS, not zombies. I DO change my answer though. I can't do that eating human-like shit," he shook his head in disgust.

"Nah, nigga. You got to pick your shut and stand in it," JoJo told him.

"I'm standin' in my shit. I can't do it, especially if I may die a painful and slow death from something such as kuru," DeVanté looked at JoJo.

"But you just made the point that they are not human, De. Which one is it?" I questioned.

"The answer is NO," DeVanté raised his eyebrows. "It's my final answer."

"He just doesn't want to be left out and lookin' stupid," Courtney said laughing.

"I don't give a damn about what nobody does, I follow my own trends. Y'all should know that about me," DeVanté replied to Courtney's statement, but is speaking to us all.

"Good, because I was gon' BEG God to never leave me stranded with your ass with no food. You gon' start looking at me as food," I told DeVanté laughing hard as hell.

"What the hell I'm gon' get from eatin' you? Ain't no fuckin' meat!" DeVanté said cracking the hell up. "The BEST I can do is use your limbs to make a fire."

"That's fucked up!" JoJo said laughing with DeVanté. "No muscle mass havin' ass."

"What you think you got?" I asked JoJo.

"Muscles, but they are all on the inside and they come out when they need to," JoJo shot back.

"What kind of shit is that!?" Elijah said laughing. "I ain't ever heard nobody say that shit. Well, about muscles at least..." He trailed off.

"Nasty ass," Courtney shook her head. "But you ain't lyin'," she cosigned Elijah laughing.

I gagged from disgust. "Anywho, so everybody chooses no?" I asked them.

"I guess," Max replied. "Many have maggots and shit coming out of them."

"Aye!" We all said because we're eating.

"We talked about a lot of shit, but THAT is where the line is drawn?" Max questioned.

"YES!" The majority of us shouted.

"Okay," he held his hands up, eating.

"How and where did you come up with the question?" I asked Tia. "That don't make no sense. I ain't ever had nobody ask me no shit like that. Then you said it was a serious question."

Tia shrugged, "I'm in the filming industry, you have to have a creative mind."

"Creative, but weird AND fucked UP," I told her.

"I can agree with you," she shrugged with a giggle.

"Aye yo," I said cracking up, then shook my head. "This you?" I asked DeVanté.

"You better know it," DeVanté replied proudly.

After eating, I got comfortable on the couches because itis quickly kicked in, but the others started heading out I had two plates, so it's a serious case of the itis. I laid back on the couch and DeVanté's rude ass just has to make a lot of fucking noise for some reason, but I can still remain comfortable with the noise. I ended up dozing off and eventually falling asleep.

~DeVanté's P.O.V~

K-Ci let out a loud ass burp, went to the couch, and laid back getting all comfortable and shit. I sat down on the couch, rubbing my pants. I rubbed my hands together, then intentionally yawned loud, looking around. Yawns are contagious, so they traveled all around the room.

"Well, me and my man are goin' back to our room. Thank you," Elijah took the hint, hugging Tia, "and goodnight."

"Thank God," K-Ci mumbled.

"Thank you and goodnight," Max repeated, heading to the door.

"Yeah, I'm tired and ain't get much sleep. Thanks, girl," Courtney have Tia a hug. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow. Bye to almost everybody," Elijah hinted, but everyone know he meant K-Ci.

K-Ci shook his head, amused as the other three left.

"Bye," JoJo spoke once they left, except he was on the same side of the door as I am.

That's a problem. The TV continued to play and they continued to watch it like they understood that shit. Tia walked over to the door and locked it.

"Food was good, huh?" I asked them.

"Yup," K-Ci nodded.

"Definitely, you did ya thang Tia," JoJo looked over his shoulder at Tia.

"Thanks," Tia said typing away.

The conversation between the fellas and I went on for a bit, and in the middle of the conversation, I yawned again, hoping they'd get the hint to leave too. Joel gave me a look then averted his eyes back to the television. I stood up and walked to Tia who sitting at the kitchen island on her laptop. I came up behind her.

"I don't want-" startled Tia jumped in her seat by my voice. "My bad," I placed my hands on her shoulders. "I don't want to be rude or nothin', but I'm about ready for these niggas to go. I'm steadily throwin' out hints"

"That's your company. In fact, I was about to go out on the terrace and do something constructive," she said closing her laptop. "It's cool outside, so I need a sheet."

"Babe, no. You invited them and you gon' leave me out here with them?" I wined. "They asses all comfortable and shit too." I stood up straight. "Aye, it's time for y'all to go. I'm tired as hell and y'all seem like y'all tired too from the way y'all gettin' all comfortable and shit." I walked over to them dozing off. "Aye!" I clapped my hands. "It's time to go!"

I heard the balcony door close and Tia's backside. I looked back down and these niggas are full-on sleeping. I hate this shit because they are some deep ass sleepers. The fact that they were able to fall asleep in the midst of my yelling is very telling of how deep and quickly they can sleep. I shook these niggas and it took a while.

"Aye, y'all can sleep in one of their rooms if y'all that damn tired. If not I can walk y'all asses to y'all room to make sure y'all sleepy ass don't accidentally walk into somebody else room." I said mostly speaking to myself because they asses sleep AGAIN.

Actually, it's the only one who's sleeping again because I didn't shake the other one enough. Luckily they are asleep because I would be eating my words. I don't want them up in here overnight. They may be arguing and/or fighting and loud and shit. They act like strangers but are blood brothers offstage. I've had enough and... Just NO!

"A'ight..." I went to the kitchen, got two cups of water, and made my way back to them. "Oh, shit! IT'S RAININ'!" I screamed while pouring the water onto their faces and stomping my feet obnoxiously.

They jumped up gasping for air, while I'm still yelling. "Come on! COME ON! It's RAININ'!" I screamed running towards the door. It really doesn't matter what I say because they just woke up. "Grab ya shit! Let's go!"

They followed me, running and confused. They damn near fell over because they are still half asleep, but frantic. I swung the door open and ran out of the room. I splashed the remaining water on them on the way just for shits and giggles.

"Come on!" I yelled as they ran out of my hotel room. "It's rainin'!"

"Wait a minute!" JoJo said finally catching on. "We inside of a building, man! Why the fuck we tellin', and WHY the fuck my face wet?"

K-Ci touched his own face, "Yeah... Man, what the FUCK!?"

"Yeah, it was time for y'all to go and y'all was givin' me a hard ass time, so... That was my way of doin' things," I pointed to myself. "Serves you right. Gettin' comfortable and shit when y'all got a whole ass hotel room. Y'all were invited for dinner and dinner ONLY. Not to sleep on the couch callin' hogs. Now that y'all are fully awake, I'll see y'all asses tomorrow." I waved at them. "I wish y'all safe travels." I went back to my hotel door, then closed the door, waving.

I walked in further and saw Tia standing there silently cracking the hell up.

"I- I saw the WHOLE-" she spoke through her laughter, "PETTY!" She exhaled, "Why would you-" she wiped her eyes, laughing.

"I needed them up out of here. I'm tired as hell. I thought they'd leave when your friends left," I replied. "I had to do somethin'. That came straight from the dome," I pointed to my head.

"That was funny as heck. You crack me up, DeGrate," she pointed at me. "You know that, right?"

"I guess," I replied to her shrugging.

"You look and sound tired. You should get some rest and I'll go back where I came from," she turned on her heels. "I'm going to continue what I was doing."

"Okay, but you sound racist as hell. You go back to where you came from- you- you know the rest," I chuckled.

"You're reaching," she shook her head laughing, and closed the door behind her.

I went and freshened up a bit before I went to bed. I slept for a horrible forty minutes before I woke up completely. Let me correct myself, it wasn't full sleep, but it was broken as hell. I got out of bed, put my slides/house shoes back on and my robe, then went out to the living room area.

Tia is just snoozing away underneath that thin ass sheet. I opened the door and the hawk is really biting. It's cold as shit! I'm shivering like a stray cat on a cold winter night. I grabbed her laptop from under the chair and placed it on the table inside of our hotel room. I went back outside and swatted down to her level.

"I just know you're cold," I told her and she's clearly awake but her eyes are still closed. "You must want it to rain on your head?"

Her eyes popped open, "you're very bold if you choose to do something like that."

"Well, you know I'm a bold guy," I raised my eyebrows. "It's cold out here. You should come in and cozy up with me. What do you think?" I asked her.

"Ye-" I lifted her up. "You just knew I was hon say yes, huh?" She questioned, chuckling.

I turned us around, heading back inside, "Yeah."

She grabbed a hold of me, afraid she'd fall during my spin. "Couldn't sleep?" She asked

"I slept a little bit, but it was broken up," I replied.

"Aww, can I have a kiss?" Tia closed her eyes, stuck her tongue out, looking goofy as hell.

I promise she plays too fucking much, so I'll just play with her too. I put my mouth on her tongue.

"Blehhh," she jerked away. She damn near rolled out of my arms. "Ewww... That's nasty."

"Seriously?" I raised my eyebrows at her. "We tongue each other down all the damn time. Not to mention that you are the one who did it. Play stupid games and you'll win stupid prizes," I smiled. "You act like I got herpes or somethin' and you almost made me drop your behind."

She side-eyed me, "umm..."

"Tia, stop playin' with me," I chuckled, stopping in front of the bedroom door.

She bursted out laughing, "Okay and you know that I can walk, right?"

"When your legs don't work like they used to before," I sang in a low tone, "and I can't sweep you off your feet." She smiled with all her teeth out and with her eyes. "You're making me corny." I put her down on the bed.

"So you weren't like this before?" She questioned standing on the bed.

"Nope," I said popping my p. "Just a little, but your behind rubbed off on me."

"Cheek to cheek?" She said then laughed.

I shook my head at her, "You are something else."

I think I'll wait until tomorrow so she can get some good sleep because if I do, we both won't get any type of real ass sleep.

~Tia's P.O.V~

I shook my head at her, "You are something else."

"Mm, I am aren't I?" I began rubbing his cheek. "I love you and ALL your corniness," I pecked his lips. "You couldn't sleep? Why?"

"Because..." Donald then fell silent. "Why were YOU pretending to sleep?"

"I wasn't. I'm fully dressed and it's impossible to sleep," I replied. "Change of subject, DeGrate. The question?"

He looked off to the side, "Babe, maybe we should both get some sleep..." He trailed off so unsure.

"Babe, whatever it is, I'm sure it's going to be alright," I pulled him into a long and tight hug.

He squeezed me with our faces in each other's necks, him inhaling then exhaling deeply. We embraced for a few minutes in complete silence, rocking from side to side.

"Let's get some rest, babe," he spoke as I placed my hand on the back of his neck. "Right after I pee. Your cold hands just triggered my bladder," he chuckled, pulling back.

"Maybe, but according to JoJo, your behind been chugging water like crazy," I told him. "I actually have to use the bathroom too. I've been holding it for too long," I jumped off of the bed, ran to the bathroom, did my business, washed my hands, went back into the bedroom, and laid down on the bed.

Donald came back after a while with an odd look on his face, shaking his head. "My bladder wasn't the only thing triggered, your food triggered my ass. I just took a shit," he plopped on the bed. "PAUSE! HARD pause..."

"And what do you want me to do about that?" I tilted my head to the side, questioning him, then say up straight. "There's something else going on, right? Like... Something important because you're looking very somber."

His head turned away from me, "I seriously think that you- we-," he stammered then cut himself off.

I perked up even more because I never actually stopped thinking about what it is that was wrong, but it just seemed like it.

"Babe, we should get some-" he inhaled then exhaled. "I know exactly how this will go and you don't need this shit right now." He eyed me as he spoke, "I see you givin' me that look, so I feel almost forced to tell you. Whether I tell you now or later, you won't get any sleep. Damned if I do and damned if I don't."

I sat on my knees, waiting. "And?"

"Okay, so you know me and the fellas went to the rental or whatever, right?"

"DeVanté..." I trailed off knowing that he was buying time.

"Okay, so when we arrived, we were met with a surprise and it wasn't a good one. At first, we thought it'd be how it normally is, but no," he inhaled then exhaled. "So there was hella reporters there and when we got out of the car, you were the main topic. There were some lies, but most were close to the truth or one hundred percent the truth."

I walked on my knees to the edge of the bed and sat beside him with my legs dangling off of the bed. "Mmhm, I'm listening," I stated, kind of already knowing what was to come.

"Your trauma- EVERYTHING is now public knowledge," he revealed, the room fell silent for a few minutes as he stared at the wall.

"Are you okay?" I asked, eyeing him.

His head snapped my way with a look of disbelief. "Me?" He questioned with his hand placed on his chest.

"Yes, you," I chuckled.

"Babe, are YOU okay?" He asked with widened eyes.

"I'm fine," I nodded with a shrug.

"Are you sure? I mean, how- how can you be?" He questioned confused. "How can you be truly good when-" Donald stopped himself.

"Well..." I trailed off, before speaking again, "I'm okay because it was kind of expected. Although I didn't expect it to happen this early on, it did. There's nothing I can really do. I could speak to my publicist and deny it, BUT then I'd be lying. It's best that I leave it alone until I'm ready to speak if I decide to," I replied.

"Do you think you know who it is?" He asked me.

"I have a hunch- a strong one, but we can't be one hundred percent sure. However, it was most likely Yasir," I replied.

"It was," he replied. "It ain't no hunch to me, I know for sure that it was him."

"Well, let's take your advice and get us some z's in," I told him then pecked his lips. "Goodnight." I looked at him and in return, he gave me another odd look. "You're on my side of the bed. I can't sleep until you move out of my way."

"Okay," he stood up and walked to the other side of the bed and sat there.

I turned off the light on my side, "babe, are you just going to stay awake and just stare at me all night?" I sat up seeing him still sitting there. "It'll be alright, get some sleep, my guy."

"If you're okay, then... Okay, goodnight, babe." He turned off his light, and gave me a kiss on my cheek, before laying down completely beside me with his arms wrapped around me.

"Goodnight," I responded in a whisper.

Am I okay? No, not really. However, if I would've told Donald that, he would have been up all night and been on vacation. He doesn't sleep much when we aren't on vacation and he needs to get some sleep. As soon as we get back home to the States, he will be up and working nonstop. I DID in fact know that it'd eventually become public knowledge, but not NOW.

Being that is it public knowledge, I don't want nor will I be looking for anyone's sympathy. I'm going to be fine. I know many will have their own opinions and draw their own conclusions about the matter. Even if Donald does know, which I'm sure he does, that it bothers me, he can't do anything but comfort me. There is no fixing anything. It's not like I feel bad enough to start crying at the moment. I've done enough of that on this trip alone. I'm really trying to enjoy my time away from continuous work.

Donald grabbed my hand, entangling mine with his. "I get it, I do. I understand that this is not fixable, so I like that you kept your cool," he whispered in my ear.

"You expected me to scream at you or something?" I turned my whole body around to face him.

"Nah," he chuckled. "Do you ever? I mean there was the other day when I was playing with you. You raised your voice a little, but that's another story," he laughed.

"Mm, you had me bent," I agreed.

"I just thought that you'd react a little differently due to the severity of the situation. For sure not this calm," he chuckled. "I thought that maybe you'd cry or something."

"Mm, I don't feel like crying. I know how messed up my family and I are and..." I shrugged my shoulder.

"We all are a little fucked up in some way or another. You don't intentionally hurt other people in the process and I admire that you don't. When I was fucked all the way up, I hurt many others in the process. I didn't even finish talking to you about everything. I had words with your mother and Daryl."

"Figures. She took his side and that was that, right?" I asked him already knowing.

"Mm, basically," he chuckled. "Same ol', same ol'. I want you to know that I didn't raise my voice at your mother at all, but I think I did with Daryl.

"Donald, baby. There's no need to argue with stupid people. Just let it be," I told him. "Nothing you say will change their perspective."

"You just called them stupid?" He asked me, amused.

"In a way... Not completely, but most of the things that come from their mouths are stupid," I replied.

"Mhm," he agreed. "I just hate when people try to make it seem like I'm stupid or somethin'- playin' right in my face about anything," he replied. "I like to nip shit in the bud then and there. I feel like waiting cause more problems and they do it more and more. You know people will push your limits if you allow them to."

"I agree, but some will try and do it regardless."

"Yeah, but I like for them to know and call them on their shit. I hold back more than you think, but there's a time for everything. Also, we don't always think rationally in the heat of the moment. I don't care what they think, but I'm gon dead the thought of them trying to get over on me," he raised his eyebrows at the end of his statement. "Everyone has their methods."

"Right, if everyone was the same then the world would be different and possibly worse," my eyes widened for a second.

"Oh, and Ashari asked about you too," he told me. "DJ did too. Gon' tell me "Where's Tia?" He said it like he was somebody pops," he leaned on his hand. "He is something else."

"Aww, he's so cute," I cooed.

"Well, you weren't there. He told me off in FRONT of my momma. In fact, my mama joined in!" He said laughing.

"What did he- they say?" I leaned on my hand.

He kissed his teeth, "It was some true stuff, but it was rude as I don't know what. It was about my breath."

I squeezed my nostrils, "Now that you mentioned it..."

Donald smacked his lips, "Yeah, a'ight."

"Nah, I'm jiving," I laughed.

"First thing I did when I got here was shower and brush my teeth. Y'all didn't even see me sneak in here. I was like a thief in the night," he replied.

"Actually, Max did see you and informed me. Next, sweetheart." I mocked him from earlier.

"Yeah, don't think I forgot about earlier either. That was messed up, Tia," he pointed at me.

"Like what you did was even better," I raised my eyebrows.

"You don't understand how it feels."

"Donald, I'm a virgin, so I think I UNDERSTAND how it feels," I replied.

"Babe, it's different when someone else does it and you are left in an unfinished state. You doin' it to yourself is completely different," he said trying to make a point.

I snickered, very quietly, under my breath at the fact that he thinks it was always me and me alone. It wasn't often, BUT it did happen.

"Okay," I replied, "alright Donald. I think we should be getting some sleep now," I exhaled.

He yawned, "Yeah, I'm tired as a motha." I got out of bed and he looked at me crazy. "Didn't you just say we should get some sleep? Then you go and hop out of the bed?" He questioned.

I opened the window a little wider than a crack. "I'm hot and you're about to be all on me throughout the night."

"That's because you have it cold as hell wherever you sleep. I need to be wrapped and cuddled up to you to get warm," he told me, fake shivering.

I sat on my side of the bed, pulling the covers over my legs. "You can always close the window some."

"You think that I want to get up in the middle of the night or whatever time of day, out from under my blanket and into the cold air that's gon' keep me awake for the rest of the time?" He sat up as he spoke.

"That's one long question," I told him finally laying down.

"It was, but I'm serious," he laid back down and I got back up. "You're such a busybody. Babe, what are you doing?"

I closed the window a little bit, "just for you," I went and laid back down. "You good?"

"If you allow me to get comfortable and stop walking around," he laughed then yawned.

He got comfortable, then I remembered that I have no water beside me. I need water on my bedside because I wake up thirsty as heck in the middle of my sleep. Donald got comfortable, placing his hand between my thighs and all. I closed my eyes, exhaling.

"Gon' ahead and get you some water," he exhaled, removing his hand.

"How'd you know?" I asked him to remove the covers.

"My eyes don't see any water in the nightstand and your sigh said it all," he responded as I slipped into my sandals-turned-house shoes.

I jogged out of the bedroom, grabbed some water from the fridge, then ran back into the bedrooms getting comfortable for real.

"Can I get comfortable?" He asked me.

"Mhm, go ahead."

"No, I mean, for real this time."

"Donald, you could've been got comfortable. What do you do without me around to sleep?" I asked him.

"Keep the windows closed and... Let's just say my hand keeps warm and moisturized," he replied.

"Really Donald?" I said rhetorically.

"You asked," he replied, this time placing his hand between my breasts, cupping one between his thumb and index finger. My back is to him which is why he's able to do so.

"Sss, your hands are cold," a shiver ran down my spine.

"I told you," he chuckled with one of his fingers brushing against my nipple. "Accident!"

"Was it?" I turned my head to the side to look him in the eyes.

"Honest to God, I'm still getting comfortable," he replied. "My hand twitched or something."

"Okay, but once is accidental, and twice is purposely. If you're lying, God will strike you," I told him.

"Not before he gets to you after what you was doin' to me when I got back," he raised his eyebrows.

"Goodnight, Donald."

"I love you, beautiful. Give me some sugar." He puckered his lips.

"Oh, I'd have to get up again because it's in the kitchen," I frowned, then kissed him.

"Goodnight."

"I love you," I said no longer playing around.

Donald was the first one to fall asleep and eventually, I did too.

Word Count: 7,070

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